1
Module 1
STRATEGIC THINKING AND VISIONING
Partners
2

School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences,
Newcastle University, UK

University of Primorska, Slovenia

edEUcation, UK

University of Jyväskylä, Finland

Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania

European School Heads Association, Netherlands
The
Focus
3
EC4SLT invites school leadership teams to join the
project to:
 design an enquiry-based programme for
entrepreneurial educational leadership development
 improve the quality and efficiency of leadership
through application of entrepreneurial competences
from the business world.
The
Entrepreneurial competences
4
In relation to strategic thinking and visioning, entrepreneurial
competences concern values and include:







elaborating a mission with a set of values, a vision and strategies in
place to enact them
analysing the wider educational context, its constraints and its
freedoms, the relative performance of the school and the needs and
expectations of key stakeholders
actively seeking information to identify and exploit opportunities,
take calculated risks and innovate to foster sustainable solutions
addressing community needs and having the strategic flexibility to
respond to change
exploiting individual and collective strength as a leadership team
developing and exploiting partnerships and networks
creating structures and processes to enact the mission and vision
Stimulus
5


Marley School requires improvement
You have information regarding particular areas:






Leadership of the school
Governance of the school
Safety
The achievement of pupils
The senior leadership team is aware that it will need to
focus on entrepreneurial competences related to values
in order to enable change
They need to explore exactly what this means in practice
Group task
6
Scenario:
 You have just taken over as the leadership team of
Marley School.
 Analyse the issues you face in terms of leadership and
where you want to be in the short, medium and longer
term.
 What are the drivers behind the change you need to
implement?
 Identify three strategic priorities for the school.
 Record them on Post-It (sticky) notes.
Create the need to know
7





Source a copy of your school improvement plan
Work as a leadership team to identify one key
improvement objective which requires revisiting your vision
and values
Why is the objective important?
How easy will it be to achieve?
Do you foresee any sticking points?
Cycle 1: explore
Ask questions
8

Using the 8Qs template, record all of the questions you
have as a leadership team in relation to achieving the
objective you identified on the previous slide
Cycle 1: explore
Use evidence and expertise
9




Read and review the additional information in Handout 3
Watch video clip from George Stephenson High School
and consider the advantages and disadvantages of the
approach taken by the senior leadership team in relation
to your context
Arrange to visit a school in your area and find out
whether they have resolved an objective like the one you
have chosen for the focus of your enquiry
Select two or three texts from the module reading list and
engage with them, making notes and asking further
questions
Cycle 1: explore
Make sense of your findings
10


What have you found?
Revisit your 8Qs sheet and consider whether you have
obtained appropriate approaches to achieving your
objective
Cycle 1: explore
Reflect on your learning
11





How does the experience at Marley School compare to
the process and outcomes of your exploratory enquiry
cycle?
What were the key learning points of your exploratory
enquiry cycle?
How/where/when/why did they occur?
Were there any blockers?
Will you need to plan to avoid them next time?

How will you do this?
Cycle 1: explore
Making links
12
To what extent did the entrepreneurial competences relating to
values feature in your exploratory enquiry cycle:







elaborate a mission with a set of values, a vision and strategies in
place to enact them?
analyse the wider educational context, its constraints and its
freedoms, the relative performance of the school and the needs and
expectations of key stakeholders?
actively seek information to identify and exploit opportunities, take
calculated risks and innovate to foster sustainable solutions?
address community needs and have the strategic flexibility to
respond to change?
exploit individual and collective strength as a leadership team?
develop and exploit partnerships and networks?
create structures and processes to enact the mission and vision?
Create the need to know
13


The first stage of your second, negotiated, enquiry cycle
requires you to consider the impact of developing your
entrepreneurial competences relating to values
Use Handouts 4, 5 and 6 to prepare an action plan in order to
record:





the stages of your enquiry
delegated roles and responsibilities
deadlines
anticipated outcomes
Remember to include evidence of your learning from enquiry
cycle one
Cycle 2: develop
Ask questions
14






Undertake a small scale trial of your action plan with a
particular stakeholder
Which entrepreneurial skills relating to strategic thinking and
vision do you want to practise?
Who/what will enable you to practise these skills and offer
constructive feedback for improvement?
How will you approach them/it?
When will you conduct your trial?
Take action and collect evidence
Cycle 2: develop
Ask questions
15

To what extent will you have to consider and plan for:







Your values and vision
The wider educational context?
Opportunities and calculated risks?
Community needs?
Individual and collective strengths?
Partnerships and networks
Internal structures and processes?
Cycle 2: develop
Use evidence and expertise
16


Review the evidence of your small scale trial
What did you find in relation to:



The anticipated outcomes in your action plan?
The entrepreneurial competences relating to values?
Revisit the video clip of the senior leaders at George
Stephenson High School

Compare and contrast their leadership approaches with your own
approach in your small scale trial
Cycle 2: develop
Make sense of your findings
17


It is now time to up-scale your work
Review the points of your action plan in relation to your
findings from the previous slide




Do you need to change anything/anyone?
Do you need to add anything/anyone?
Do you need to remove anything/anyone?
Take action and collect evidence
Cycle 2: develop
Reflect on your learning
18



So, what were the actual outcomes of your action plan?
How did they compare to your intended outcomes?
What did you achieve in relation to your original improvement
objective?
Cycle 2: develop
Making links
19
To what extent did the entrepreneurial competences relating to values
feature in your developmental enquiry cycle:
 elaborate a mission with a set of values, a vision and strategies in
place to enact them?
 analyse the wider educational context, its constraints and its
freedoms, the relative performance of the school and the needs and
expectations of key stakeholders?
 actively seek information to identify and exploit opportunities, take
calculated risks and innovate to foster sustainable solutions?
 address community needs and have the strategic flexibility to
respond to change?
 exploit individual and collective strength as a leadership team?
 develop and exploit partnerships and networks?
 create structures and processes to enact the mission and vision?
Next steps
20



To what extent are you convinced by the need to develop
entrepreneurial competences relating to values?
How will you communicate this to others?
What small changes will you make to your leadership practice
as a result of this enquiry?


What will you keep the same?


Give your reasons for this
Give your reasons for this
Write your responses on a sticky note and post it by your desk
as a practical reminder for future work.
Contact
Authors
21
The content of this module was researched and prepared by:
Sue Robson, René Koglbauer, Ulrike Thomas, Alison Whelan and Anna
Reid
Organisation: School of Education, Communication and Language
Sciences, Newcastle University, UK
Key contact: Sue Robson, School of Education, Communication and
Language Sciences, Newcastle University, UK ([email protected])